Posted on June 14, 2016 at 3:59 PM

New York – June 14, 2016 – The Open Primaries movement has exploded into voters’ consciousness this spring as a direct result of a deeply flawed presidential primary season and voter discontent has propelled the Open Primaries petition to open the presidential primaries well past 25,000 signatures within days of launching.

Posted on May 31, 2016 at 4:19 PM

New York – May 31, 2016 – Open Primaries, a national political reform organization, today released this statement on behalf of John Opdycke, president of Open Primaries, praising the Associated Press – NORC Center for Public Affairs for its work to uncover American voters’ lack of confidence in the electoral system and support for including all voters in the primary process.

Posted on May 11, 2016 at 4:13 PM

New York – May 11, 2016 – Next week’s primary in New Jersey will be hotly contested; with more delegates at stake than any other state left to vote except California. Yet 2,652,061 independent New Jersey voters, including almost half of all millennial voters, will be barred from casting a ballot in next week’s primary election despite paying for the election with their tax dollars – a burden that cost New Jersey taxpayers millions each primary season.

Posted on May 11, 2016 at 10:07 AM

Next week’s primary in Oregon will be hotly contested; with more delegates at stake than any other state left to vote until the June 7th primary. Yet 676,000 independent Oregonians, including almost half of all millennial voters, will be barred from casting a ballot in next week’s primary election despite paying for it with their tax dollars – a burden that cost Oregonian taxpayers $3,006,688 for the last state presidential primary. Voter suppression takes many forms: long lines, incompetent administration, arbitrary registration deadlines, and archaic voter identification requirements. But these barriers, while serious, pale in comparison to the impact that closed, partisan primaries will have on the ability of over a half-million people in Oregon to cast a ballot and have a real choice in voting for a candidate they support. Equally egregious, Republican voters and Democratic voters will be forced to choose a candidate from one party and not allowed the choice to vote for a candidate of a different party in this most decisive of Oregon primary elections. Oregon shouldn’t have different rules for different voters. We must protect the right to vote for all Americans and bring our politics into the 21st century.

Posted on April 22, 2016 at 9:57 AM

Next week’s primary in Pennsylvania will be hotly contested; with more delegates at stake than any other state left to vote outside California. Yet 1.1 million independent Pennsylvanians, including almost half of all millennial voters, will be barred from casting a ballot in next week’s primary election despite paying for the election with their tax Independents have been influential in states where they are allowed to vote. Exit polling in Massachusetts primary found that independent voters—52% of the electorate—who participated in the Democratic primary chose Bernie Sanders by a nearly 2-1 margin.

Posted on April 20, 2016 at 10:32 AM

Today’s primary in New York was one of the most important primary elections in a generation, with more delegates at stake than any other state left to vote outside California. Yet 3.2 million registered independents were barred from participating.

New York joins a growing list of states across the country that have failed their citizens this primary season. 33% of millennial voters, 33% of Asian voters, 20% of Latino voters and 15% of African-American voters were denied the right to vote on Tuesday. Equally egregious, Republicans and Democrats voters were not allowed the choice to vote for a candidate outside of their party.

The disenfranchisement of New York’s independent voters likely swayed the outcome.

Posted on April 15, 2016 at 1:57 PM

Presidential Candidate Acknowledges Primary System is Broken

New York – April 14, 2016 – Hundreds of independent voters and advocates of open primaries gathered today on the steps of City Hall in New York City to address the glaring shortcomings in New York's election system that will exclude over 3 million voters in the state – close to one million in NYC – from casting ballots in the April 19th primary election despite being required as taxpayers to pay for it. They also called for this issue to be addressed by candidates Clinton and Sanders in the NYC debate and for the Democratic and Republican Parties to open up the primaries.

Posted on April 08, 2016 at 4:55 PM

Restrictive Primary System Excludes Voices of 3.2 Million Voters in New York

Independent voters and advocates of open primaries will gather on the steps of City Hall on Thursday to address the glaring shortcomings in New York's election system that will exclude over 3 million voters in the state – close to one million in NYC – from casting ballots in the April 19th primary election despite being required as taxpayers to pay for it. They will also call for this issue to be addressed by candidates Clinton and Sanders in the NYC debate and for the Democratic and Republican Parties to open up the primaries.

Posted on March 07, 2016 at 9:42 PM

New York, NY – March 07, 2016 – Open Primaries, a national leader on election reform, released today the results of a statewide survey of Florida’s independent voters leading up to the state’s presidential primary on March 15th. The survey finds that independent voters in Florida are deeply frustrated by the lack of inclusion and the level of dysfunction in government, with the vast majority (87%) indicating they would support a Top Two Nonpartisan Primary ballot initiative.

Under Florida’s closed primary system, voters must join a political party to vote in the primaries. This current system bars Florida’s 3.2 million independent voters – well over a quarter of registered voters in the state -- from casting their vote for a presidential candidate.